Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt dies at 73

Jim O'Connell, Associated Press

Updated 12:58 am, Sunday, September 18, 2011

Photo: GREG PEARSON, AP

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Former NBA star Dominique Wilkins, left, former NCAA Foundation president David Gavitt, second left, former NBA stars Joe Dumars and Charles Barkley, and the University of Connecticut womens coach Geno Auriemma hold up their jerseys after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame Monday, April 3, 2006, during a news conference in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/The Times, Greg Pearson) ** MAGS OUT NO SALES ** less

Former NBA star Dominique Wilkins, left, former NCAA Foundation president David Gavitt, second left, former NBA stars Joe Dumars and Charles Barkley, and the University of Connecticut womens coach Geno Auriemma ... more

Photo: GREG PEARSON, AP

Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt dies at 73

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Dave Gavitt had an impact on the world of basketball. From a career as a successful coach to changing the face of college sports to introducing the Olympics to a Dream Team, Gavitt's touch was everywhere.

His death Friday night after a long illness was confirmed by his family Saturday. He died in a hospital near his hometown of Rumford, R.I. He was 73.

Gavitt coached Providence to the NCAA tournament five times, including the Final Four in 1973. He was the driving force behind the formation of the Big East Conference and was its first commissioner. He was selected to coach the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, but the United States boycotted the Moscow Games. Gavitt was president of USA Basketball and oversaw the introduction of NBA players onto the U.S. Olympic roster, including the Dream Team at the 1992 Games.

"He was not only a great basketball coach and organizer of the Big East but he was a great, great statesman for basketball, college and international," former St. John's coach and fellow Naismith Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca said Saturday.

Gavitt was the Big East's commissioner from 1979 until 1990. He served on the NCAA's Division I Basketball Committee from 1980-84 and was its chairman from 1982-84 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the first of its TV contracts with CBS was negotiated.

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"Dave was a great man; a renaissance man who was at the forefront of all that was good in college basketball," UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma said. "One reason I wanted to coach at UConn was so that I could be in Dave Gavitt's league. Twenty-seven years later, I'm still not in his league and never will be."

"Dave will be missed incredibly," said UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, "by me as a mentor and friend. He was always such a big-picture guy and he has done more for the sport of basketball than anyone in my lifetime. His impact on athletics in the eastern part of the country is immeasurable and the Big East Conference, created through his vision and foresight, has taken all of us to a place that we never could have imagined.

"It is especially sad, considering today is certainly one of those days, with everything in the news about our league, I would love nothing more than to call him and ask him simply, `What do you think and what should we do?' Sadly, we cannot do that."

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The Big East is facing news that longtime conference members Syracuse and Pittsburgh may leave for the ACC.

Gavitt served as chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 2006. He was president of the NCAA Foundation and worked as tournament director of the Maui Invitational from 2005 until 2009, and he also held the post of Boston Celtics vice president.

His biggest impact was in the lives he affected during his decades in basketball.

Born Oct. 26, 1937, in Westerly, R.I., Gavitt played basketball and baseball at Dartmouth, graduating from the Ivy League school in 1959. Beginning as Providence's coach in 1969, he led the Friars to a 209-84 record over 10 seasons for a .713 winning percentage that is still the best in school history. His Final Four team in 1973 featured Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes. He became the school's athletic director in 1971.

The Big East formed in 1979, with Providence, Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John's, Seton Hall, Boston College and Connecticut the original members. Villanova joined the next year. One of Gavitt's biggest moves was to have the new league become working partners right away with another new entity, ESPN.

He also moved the conference postseason tournament to New York's Madison Square Garden, where it has played before sellout crowds since 1983. The conference's high point came in 1985 when it became the only league to have three teams in the Final Four.